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Wednesday December 1, 2010

Fall Plenary 2010

Thank you to all the attendees and presenters for another successful Plenary Session. The final resolutions
are now available on the website as well as the handouts and presentations. Faculty were very happy with our two keynote speakers. Professor Sylvia Hurtado from UCLA spoke about our students today and in the future. Dr. Hurtado’s PowerPoint
gave timely demographic data from research at the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA. In addition, A. Lee Fritschler, Professor at the School of Public Policy at George Mason University addressed the faculty, and alerted us to the federalization of higher education that is evident in an array of recent trends. He asked such questions as: Should the government be in the business of managing curriculum? Should accrediting agencies be tasked with auditing institutions’ finances? Should institutions be responsible for data that they cannot collect?

As part of our ongoing efforts in the Academic Senate to be more environmentally responsible, we managed to be “paper lite” at this session, and from the feedback, people were appreciative. In many cases, attendees could access breakout materials and resolutions before, during and after the session.

At our Plenary Session we honored three students with Jonnah Laroche scholarships: Andrew Blume at San Diego Mesa College; Eloisa Rangel at Orange Coast College; and Amairany Guzman at Mt. San Antonio College. Winners came from Areas C and D; in the spring we will select students from Areas A and B. Congratulations to each of these students for outstanding work!

Spring Plenary Session: Keynote Speaker Confirmed

It is with great pleasure that I announce that our spring keynote speaker will be Dr. Judith Eaton, President of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).
CHEA is “a national advocate and institutional voice for self-regulation of academic quality through accreditation, CHEA is an association of 3,000 degree-granting colleges and universities and recognizes 60 institutional and programmatic accrediting organizations.” CHEA officially “recognizes” or affirms the work of Accrediting Commission for Junior and Community Colleges (ACCJC). Among its purpose statements are these:

A primary national voice for voluntary accreditation and quality assurance to the U.S. Congress and U.S. Department of Education.

National forum to address issues of mutual interest and concern in voluntary accreditation.

In a recent article
, Dr. Eaton said, “After years of dialogue, debate and deliberation, we are at the beginning of the next generation of accreditation. An ‘Accreditation 2.0’ is emerging, one that reflects attention to calls for change while sustaining and even enhancing some of the central features of current accreditation operation.” (http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2010/01/18/eaton)

The Spring Plenary will be April 14-16, 2011 at the San Francisco Airport Westin. Dr. Eaton will speak at the luncheon April 14th.

C-ID: Did you sign up?

Because of the passage of SB 1440 and the fact that the Course Identification Numbering (C-ID) System
is an existing vehicle for convening intersegmental faculty discipline groups, it is more important than ever that all faculty go to http://www.c-id.net and sign up for their Discipline Listserv as well as review the draft course descriptors and the draft Transfer Model Curriculum (TMC)
as they are developed. Faculty are turning out by the hundreds to review each TCM and provide input. The C-ID System is currently the only method to develop the TMC because it involves intersegmental discipline faculty and a statewide vetting process. As of today, five TMC are being vetted with a deadline for vetting of December 1: Psychology, Mathematics, Sociology, Communication Studies, and Geology. Criminal Justice is also now available with a final deadline for vetting yet to be established. It is anticipated that more TMCs will be added in the coming weeks – so be sure that you are on your Discipline Listserv so you don’t miss any announcements!

SB 1440 Update

You will notice on our website that we have a link
to SB 1440 information, including fact sheets, PowerPoint presentations, and links to archived Webinars. We held two webinars in November and will hold more in the first three weeks of December. Senate presidents will get regular announcements when we add more to the calendar. The Academic Senate has been getting requests to send someone to colleges to do a presentation on SB 1440, and because of the number of requests, it may not be possible to accommodate all invitations. Therefore, we are considering holding regional workshops as well as personalized, “virtual” workshops (e.g. webinars to a college group). The Faculty’s 1440 Implementation Group will meet again in December to develop a timetable and fact sheets to provide you with more information. We know the information has been given out in spurts; please know that is because of the challenging timeline imposed
by the legislation and the additional workload laid on top of the regular tasks before the CCCs and the CSUs. We are convinced that the careful and deliberate processes being put in place will yield an effective statewide system of degrees rather than an uncoordinated collection of individual degrees that are different at each college.

Faculty on Accreditation Teams?

If you have been visited by ACCJC recently, I wonder how many of the team members were faculty? In some cases, there are not enough faculty on the teams, and one reason may be that faculty have not thrown their hats in the ring. When the opportunity to volunteer is presented to you, please consider volunteering. Your college president is a good place to start; let your president know about your interest.

SB 1143: What’s Next?

Chancellor Scott announced at the November Board of Governors (BoG) meeting that the Task Group which was called for in the SB 1143
legislation will be formed in January, following BoG approval. The legislation says that the CCCs will “adopt a plan for promoting and improving student success within the California Community Colleges. . . [including] Multiple measures and effective programs for assessing student success and completion.” BoG member Peter MacDougall, former president of Santa Barbara City College, will chair the committee. The Chancellor indicated that the Task Group will meet monthly for the next year and will include representatives from within the colleges as well as from outside, including business, the Legislature, K-12 and higher education research. The Academic Senate has been asked to appoint faculty representatives. Details about the Task Group are sketchy at the present time, and we expect to know a lot more following the January 10-11, 2011, BoG meeting.

New Senate Caucuses

In response to a resolution, the Academic Senate developed its caucus policy and so far two caucuses have been approved (LGBT and part-time faculty) and one more has been proposed (noncredit). According to the policy, “the Academic Senate’s caucuses serve as forums within the Academic Senate in which faculty with similar interests may meet to address concerns they feel are vital to faculty and the success of students. The purpose of an Academic Senate caucus is to provide an opportunity for individuals to network and discuss issues of like interest as they relate to academic and professional matters.” Please go to http://www.asccc.org/caucuses
for information.

Board of Governors

The Executive Committee will interview candidates for the faculty positions on the Board of Governors in December and will forward names to the new governor for his appointment. We have just learned that Isabel Barreras of Madera, has been appointed to the Board of Governors (not in a faculty slot). She is a member of the State Center Community College District Board of Trustees.

Mark Wade Lieu’s New Job!

Beginning in January, past Academic Senate President Mark Wade Lieu will be on an “Inter-jurisdictional exchange” from Ohlone College to the Chancellor’s Office to work in the Academic Affairs Department under Vice Chancellor Barry Russell. His area of focus will be basic skills, which could not be more appropriate for Mark, as an ESL professor and with his experience with the Basic Skills Initiative and with noncredit topics from the Academic Senate perspective. He will be the monitor for the basic skills grant monies, state and local. So if you receive a message from the Chancellor’s Office with a familiar name, yes, it is our Mark!

Farewell to 2010

As our academic term winds down, I send best wishes for your holidays and the New Year from all of us at the Academic Senate. Academic senates, both local and state, can feel proud about their dedication and accomplishments in 2010.